The Caliber of Moss
by The Redundant Button
Summary: It was meant to be a game they would all play together. But after the blind ambitions of one lead to the expulsion of three from the Accelerated World, Brain Burst became a source of pain for the young Moss Caliber. On hold while undergoing revisions.
1. Prologue: Broken Bonds

**A/N:** So I finally got up off my rear and decided to start publishing this story that's just been sitting around in my head for the last couple of years, fermenting. I say that, but it's really only been the last handful of months that I've given it some real serious thought. All the same, if you're here looking for the canon cast, you may be mighty disappointed. 'Cause we're going full OC up in this place!

* * *

It was hot.

It wasn't just your typical hot summer's heat, either. This heat, shimmering and buzzing in her ears, pressed down like a heavy weight on the girl's narrow frame.

She was exhausted, and not just because the heat. In the upper left corner of her vision, two riveted bars were hung. The first one, filled less than a third of the way with green was suspended above a thinner nearly full blue bar. And above them both, written in English letters and an old style Impact font was a name – her name – **Mauve Rebuff**.

"Give up yet?"

The girl, Mauve, directed the question to a second individual kneeling on the ground less than ten feet away.

Clad in a dirtied dress of off-white petals, the pale yellow avatar attempted to stand. Pudgy, pod-like hands and feet tapered into limbs like flimsy stems. Her back was dotted with brown seeds of varying sizes; Mauve made a note of each.

Two bright blue ovular eyes locked with hers and an air of bitter laughter passed between the two girls.

Mauve was undeniably in bad shape. The sleek purple armour that shielded her avatar's body was cracked and broken in various places. Her mask, empty save for a single red slit of a visor, was burnt black, as was part of her chest and the better part of her left arm. She had a short dip in the lava to thank for that.

But where she was running low on health, this other avatar the colour of untanned leather, was certainly on the verge of death. After the abuse she'd been put through and having a hole punched through her abdomen just now, it was miracle she was still alive at all.

About twenty minutes earlier the air of the Unlimited Neutral Field had been filled with the sounds of tolling bells: the signal for the Change. Swept up in the multi-coloured aurora, the entire map, riddled with deep scars from numerous battles over the last few days, was reset. The ruined and then ruined again apartment complexes and yellow sky of the Wasteland stage had been wiped away without a trace.

The residential apartments at her back now sported a volcanic skin. The train that should have been running through Shinomachi station right about now had been replaced by a honey-like river of molten rock.

The Lava Stage.

Mauve had clicked her tongue in disappointment as the UNF cycled through the various stages. So far this was the third one she'd seen since she'd dived earlier today. Accelerated one thousand times, fifteen minutes earlier today had become ten days. Ten days she'd spent accumulating Burst Points by means of repeatedly hunting and killing a specific Burst Linker.

At level eight, the yellow avatar by the name Flax Jasmine was only one level above Mauve. Jasmine's skill set, focused primarily on inflicting status ailments and crowd control, put her at a distinct disadvantage when pitted against Mauve's mid- to close-range chain attacks in a one-on-one. Equipped with an intimate knowledge of all of Jasmine's parameters, skills, and tactics, Mauve had staked everything on her own ability to shut Jasmine down entirely and ambushed her out here in the UNF.

Again and again Mauve would kill her, until she saw the familiar muddy yellow avatar disintegrate into ribbons of data.

That had been the plan, at least.

Fast forward several days and Mauve had gone through battle after battle with veritable little rest in between. Her mental fortitude had begun to waver some time ago and, stretched to the limits of her endurance, she was about ready to keel over if this cycle didn't end soon.

Although this wasn't her real body, prickling anticipation had coursed through her, from the hairs atop her head down to the base of her spine when she saw the familiar light of the revival beacon, and Jasmine within it once more.

Putting the new field to use, Mauve promptly ensnared Jasmine with the chains coiled around her arms and taken her for a swim in the lava. Judging by the other girl's screams Mauve had thought this would be over quickly. She was mistaken.

Her special gauge ran out before Jasmine's health had and the yellow avatar had treated Mauve to a massive dose of her _**[** Vesper Shroud **]**_ immediately after her feet were back on solid ground.

Numbed by the thick, mustard coloured gas, Mauve had been unable to give chase as Jasmine fled toward the closest leave point: Meiji Jingu Stadium. It was only after struggling to move her unresponsive limbs and nearly throwing herself into the lava that she had somehow caught up with the other girl at Shinomachi station.

Jasmine hadn't hesitated to whip a couple of those brown seeds at Mauve then.

 _ **[** Black Powder Seed **]**_.

It was another one of her abilities. It did hurt to get caught in the blast radius of these grenades – however small it was – but for the most part they just produced a headache inducing bang and a bright flash of light.

Little by little Jasmine had managed to whittle away Mauve's health while the purple avatar was still reeling from the effects of one stun grenade after another. It was partly luck, partly skill that put an end to that. With her still working right arm Mauve had sent the chain coiled around her arm hurtling forward. It tore through Jasmine's floral body like it were wet tissue and the pain sent the smaller yellow avatar to the ground.

Her slender limbs caved under her as she tried to stand and it was with one hand clutching the hole in her stomach and her head on the ground that she turned her eyes back to Mauve.

"I can still forgive this..."

There was any number of things Mauve could have imagined her saying right then. That was not one of them and it stirred up a complicated mix of emotions in the girl's chest.

"We can both get out of here. We'll go home. We'll get a good night's sleep. We can talk this through tomorrow. You can pay me back all the points you've taken later. Nobody has to know."

"I'll know."

She must've found humour somewhere in Mauve's curt reply because Jasmine laughed. It was no surprise that she cut it short with a grunt of pain either.

"It's a little late for talking, don't you think?"

Had it been last week Mauve would have been willing to talk things out. But no amount of talking could fix the damage that had been done.

Without as much as a word to Mauve, her own _**[** Child **]**_ , Jasmine had gone ahead and hunted Mauve's long-time partner to a forced uninstallation. Cardinal wasn't coming back to this world. She didn't even remember it.

"I guess it is."

"Why...?"

Confused by Mauve's question, the yellow avatar tilted her head.

Clenching her good right hand into as tight a fist as the claws would allow, Mauve pushed the question she had agonized over for the last two days before luring Jasmine here. "When you told me I could give this game to one other person... you said you would trust my judgement. That you would trust whomever I picked. So why?"

She watched in silence as Jasmine slowly tried to pick herself back up once more. Although successful this time, the yellow avatar was notably shaky. "I did trust you."

Mauve's chain buried itself in the ground the other girl had occupied a second earlier. She had managed to jump clear of it, albeit quite clumsily. Were she in better shape, she didn't doubt that Jasmine would have spun her circles like the ballerina she fancied herself as. Now it was all the flaxen avatar could do to keep herself upright.

"Oh, well that was close." Moving her long limbs to frame her face, Jasmine turned her eyes back to her child. "I wasn't lying just now. I did trust you. Cardinal was a fine choice. I don't think I could've picked anyone better for you."

She sounded sincere enough but she still hadn't answered the question. "And? What? What is your point? Why did you do it?"

"She was dangerous."

The chain came again, burying itself in the hard ground where Jasmine had been a moment earlier. She half-stepped half-stumbled out of the way but failed to keep her feet under her this time.

That three simple words could make Mauve so angry was a surprise even to herself. The heavy fog of fatigue that had been clouding her mind began to bleed red. Jasmine had fallen on her back and held the open wound in her stomach. Lacking any of her earlier hesitation Mauve kicked the yellow avatar's hands away and planted her foot in their place. A sharp hiss passed through the smaller avatar's mask.

"She was... she was putting weird ideas into your head! I had to do something!"

Forcing out just that much seemed to take what little fight she had left in her. While still tense under Mauve's foot, Jasmine made no move to struggle free. She wouldn't even look at the other girl.

"If I did nothing... you'd be labelled a traitor. Two legions have already been ruined because one King wanted to reach level ten. What do you think would have happened if you tried? If you actually got to level nine, and you started attacking the kings?"

It didn't even need to be said. If Mauve, at level nine began to attack the Kings to level up again, she'd be hunted and killed in short order.

"I was prepared for that." Mauve tried her best to harden the statement, and failed. Instead it sounded feeble, like a small child after a scolding. Clenching her claws into fists, she stared down at the ground between her and Jasmine.

"I wasn't." Even in her condition Jasmine picked up the role of the scolding parent without missing a beat. "And not just me, either. What about Moss?"

"What about her?"

With an exasperated sigh, Jasmine turned her eyes toward Mauve. "Sometimes I wonder how you can be so smart and yet so stupid." The purple foot pressed down harder on her stomach and the yellow avatar writhed in pain until the pressure diminished. Breathing heavily behind her mask, she struggled to continue. "It wasn't just your _**[** Child **]**_ that was lost; Moss lost her _**[** Parent **]**_."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Guilty as charged..." Awkwardly Jasmine moved her hands above her head in surrender. "But if you go through with this, you'll be hunted next. And when you're gone, she'll be all alone."

"I know. I know that, but..."

The weight on Jasmine's stomach was removed and Mauve knelt herself down gingerly beside her.

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Jasmine's eyes, still the same bright blue Mauve had always known, stared up at the ash-filled sky, and Mauve's at her.

The cry of a distant Enemy coaxed the flaxen avatar to lift her head. Following her lead, Mauve turned her head to see the silhouette of the titanic quadruped. Blinking lights gathered around the head and the beast reeled. For one group of Burst Linkers, the Hunt had begun.

"We hunted one of those types last week, didn't we? You, me, Cardinal. I remember Moss was so angry with herself when we told her about it."

"Was it really just last week?"

Mauve tried to recall the memory even as she asked. It had been the first Enemy they'd taken down just between the three of them - the sort of battle you'd brag about to your grand kids. Mauve had done just that and recounted a much inflated version to Moss, her Grandchild. She wanted to laugh despite herself just remembering how teary-eyed and frustrated Moss had looked as she promised them all that she'd join them for sure on the next Hunt.

And as they watched the staggering beast Mauve came to the painful realization that there would never be a _next time._

Perhaps coming to the same conclusion, Jasmine turned her eyes back to the sky and gave Mauve her last chance to back out.

"Are you still going to go through with this?"

She wasn't looking directly at Mauve but the purple avatar nodded slowly, knowing she'd see. She'd come so far for this purpose. Even if Jasmine never breathed a word of this to anyone, there would be no way to go back to how they were before.

"I guess that's it, then. Can I ask you one more thing?"

Mauve nodded again.

"We'll still be friends, right?"

"... Always."

A pudgy, pod-like hand clasped the charred claws of her left hand and squeezed them. Jasmine couldn't have had more than a few percent left in her health gauge. But still she held on and bled the last of it out through her fingers until a faint light enveloped her. Internally Mauve prayed for the familiar yellow pillar to come whisk her away and replace her in an hour.

The light grew stronger but there was no pillar. Bit by bit the floral body before her peeled off into bright ribbons until there was nothing left. It was finally over. The avatar known as Flax Jasmine no longer existed.

And the hand that had held tightly to Jasmine's in those last few seconds closed around empty air.

.

* * *

.

"Nao?"

A slender finger jabbed at her cheek as the girl opened her eyes. She felt like she was just waking up from a very long, very deep sleep. Yawning, she tried to stretch her arms and shoulders.

"Naaoooo!"

The finger jammed against her cheek again and the girl called Nao leaned back into her chair and rubbed her eyes.

"Yuuuzu!" Parroting the other girl, Nao began to look around the small room. Four walls bare of any decoration, one door (locked, of course), a small round table, and two chairs directly opposite one another. It took a moment before reality snapped back into place for her and she remembered they were in a dive cafe.

When she came to that realization her eyes settled on the girl sitting across from her, although she wasn't exactly sitting anymore. Leaned over the small table, black hair streaked with blonde falling free over her shoulders, with one hand planted firmly on the table and the other poised to poke Nao again at any moment was Uehara Yuzuno.

The two locked eyes for a brief moment before Yuzuno fell back into her chair with a heavy sigh. "Jeez! I've been sitting here waiting for you to wake up, you know?"

"How long was I out?"

Nao began to scratch the back of her head nervously as Yuzuno's eyes went down to where her clock should have been in her visual display.

"About a minute longer than I was, I guess?"

Looking down at her own clock, located in a translucent window in the lower left corner of her vision Nao spied the time.

 _6:07 pm, December 7th, 2044._

That sounded like it should be about right. She'd asked Yuzuno to come here with her after club activities were done for the day with the excuse of scouting a dungeon in the UNF. There were enough dive cafes in Shinjuku's Yotsuya neighbourhood that it had taken only a handful of minutes to get here by bus and get a booth. That felt like it had been ages ago, but it hadn't even been twenty minutes.

Yuzuno was even still dressed in her school uniform, a powder blue neck tie poking out from beneath her navy blazer.

"Oh, really? Uh, sorry about that."

Crossing her arms, Yuzuno puffed out her cheeks and pouted. Nao couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight. But her expression, while comical, made the girl's chest tighten.

She made the mistake of looking down at her left hand.

"Nao...?" Yuzuno's normally easy-going voice was worried. "Hey, you okay?"

 _"We'll still be friends, right?"_

Her eyes burned.

Laughter giving way to throat-catching sobs, Nao had retreated as far back as her chair would allow and the hot tears spilled out. Hands balled up into loose fists, she pressed them to her face. "I'm sorry... I am so sorry... I didn't–! I never meant–"

Struck by confusion and concern in equal measure Yuzuno froze, unsure what to make of it. As she should have. Flax Jasmine was dead, killed by Nao/Mauve Rebuff's own hands, and had taken with her all of Yuzuno's memories.

This was the outcome she had fought so hard for. She should have been happy. Instead she felt rotten.

"I'm so sorry, Yuzu..."

.

* * *

.

Nao tugged on her scarf as the elevator descended to the first floor. The inside of the dive cafe, while heated during the winter months, was not too bad on its own. But once fully decked out in her heavy winter clothes Nao was sweating.

Yuzuno popped up from behind her as they stepped out into the main lobby.

"You sure you're okay?" Evidently still concerned (and rightfully so) Yuzuno had held off on most of her questions until Nao had calmed down. "You want me to walk you home?"

"N-no. It's fine. I'm fine." Quickly declining the offer, Nao rubbed her eyes once more. She had stopped crying a while ago but her eyes were still red and puffy. They were itchy now, too. "You probably need to be getting home now, right? I kept you a little longer than I thought I would."

"No, it's all good. I'm not even sure I want to head back just yet. I told my dad I'd be late getting home. He said it was fine – recommended it even. Apparently something got mom pretty mad earlier and she's still calming down."

The crisp, early December air greeted the pair as they stepped outside. It had first begun to snow a few days ago, though it had melted come the next morning. But the little flakes had already started to fall again.

Sticking her hands into her coat pockets for warmth, Yuzuno stared upward. "You sure you don't want me to walk you home?"

Again, Nao declined. "No. I don't think I'll head home right away either."

Sneaking a glance back at her virtual clock, Nao confirmed the excuse was still a viable one.

 _6:42 pm._

Yuzuno's mouth made an 'O' in realization. "Right, right. It's still visiting hours, isn't it? Going to see Mari-chan?" Nao nodded in confirmation. "Alright, I'll let you do that, then. I'll join you next time, 'kay? I'll see you tomorrow."

Yuzuno was hardly more than ten feet away when Nao turned in the opposite direction and voiced the command.

"Command, Voice Call. Number Zero-Three."

A familiar voice answered directly in her head seconds later.

" _Nao?"_

For her own comfort as she walked to the nearest bus stop, and so as not to bug the other people sharing the sidewalk, Nao answered with her thoughts rather than out loud.

" _Good evening, Shi-chan. Sorry for calling so suddenly."_

" _Agh, n-no. No. It's fine. I don't mind. D-did you need something?"_

Unable to fully bite back a chuckle at the younger girl's nervousness, Nao's face split into a smile. She heard a groan echo in her head so she guessed Shizuko had heard it.

" _Are you coming up to visit Sis again today?"_

" _You bet. Are you still there?"_

" _No. I just left a few minutes ago. She fell asleep so... Ah! No! That's not what I mean! I mean, I'm sure she'd be happy if you went to see her..."_

There was another quiet groan, followed quickly by a second bout of stifled laughter.

" _No, it's alright. If she's sleeping then I won't bother her. She needs the rest."_

Nao counted a third groan. _"Sorry."_

" _Don't worry about it. I can visit her tomorrow. Ah, by the way, Shi-chan?"_

" _Hmm?"_

" _Whatever happens, I'm still me, okay?"_

" _Nao...?"_

Her confusion was palpable. But, smiling softly to herself, Nao cut her off before the questions began flowing.

" _Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'll see you tomorrow._ "


	2. One of Those Mornings

The car rolled to a stop before the school gates.

"Shizuko?"

At the sound of her name, the young girl looked up from her hands clenched in her lap. Her mother, with her hair done up and dressed looking ready to answer calls and push paper, reached out a hand to stroke her hair. Where the older woman's fingers combed through Shizuko felt a familiar prickling of her skin. It was a warm, yet discomforting feeling, like a numb limb just beginning to wake up. But, unable to look up, she stared down at her hands.

"I'm sorry. I probably got you in trouble again."

At her meek apology, the girl's mother smiled. "You don't have to worry about that. Wada's all bark. There's no bite left in him." But perhaps seeing that the jest did little to lift the girl's mood, her mother unlocked the doors and smoothed the girl's hair. "I'll pick you up after school, okay? Be safe."

With a nod, Shizuko got up and, turning to close the door behind her, spotted her mother leaned over the seats.

"I called Dr. Maebara, too. She didn't have anything for today, but I got you in for your usual Friday afternoon appointment next week." The young brunette perked up a little at the news. And she managed to put on a small half-smile to see her mother off.

Turning to face the heavy gates separating her from the school grounds, the girl glanced down at the transparent clock in her display.

 _11:57 am, September 8_ _th_ _, 2045._

She was more than just a little bit late. She'd already missed most of her morning classes. And once she crossed through the gate and the green neurolinker around her neck connected to the in-school network, she'd see the little red alert requesting that she make her way to the principal's office. Chances were that visit would see her straight through to the beginning of lunch, if not longer.

She stayed put only long enough to fix her skirt and crooked blue necktie under her blazer. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped through the gate and watched as her connection switched over from global to the school's network.

She hadn't planned to come so late today. In fact, Shizuko had been hoping to arrive a little bit early. She'd woken up on time, gotten dressed and seen her mother off to work as usual. She'd have a quick breakfast and then she'd be off.

After setting the bread to toast she crossed the small apartment and pushed open the door to the bedroom shared between her and her sister. The name she'd been about to call had died in her throat when she saw only the single bed in the room and remembered.

She had closed the door slowly and given pause. That was right. Mariko's bed had been taken out a few months back after the younger sibling had been found curled up next to it, crying. Shizuko had confessed then to sneaking into it a few times just to keep it warm.

It hadn't just been the bed. A lot of her older sister's belongings had been packed up and moved out of the apartment.

For a long while, Shizuko had just stood there in front of the door, tears coming quietly to her eyes unbidden to fall and blot the floor. At some point she had heard the toaster pop. Wiping still wet eyes on her sleeve she'd stumbled over to the couch in the middle of the apartment and curled up behind it.

Feeling secure enough now, hidden away behind the small couch, the young girl had buried her face in her knees and wept.

She had called her mother once she had calmed down a little. But it was another while before Shizuko heard the click of the door as it opened.

She felt the pinpricks on her skin as the woman tried to coax her out from behind the couch. They had sat together for some time after that. But still, her mother had needed to return to work and Shizuko to school.

Once the girl was calm and had cleaned her face she was in her mother's car.

.

* * *

.

As she'd figured, lunch was already well underway by the time Shizuko was freed from the principle's tongue-lashing. The halls were quiet by now as everyone had already settled on where to eat. She counted that a small blessing in her eventful morning.

Well, there was still one person loitering nearby.

Leaned up against the wall a short ways off, her red necktie marking her as a third year was a familiar face. Her black hair, pulled back into a tail exposing the purple neurolinker around her neck, bobbed up and down as she hummed a quiet tune to herself.

"Nao?"

The girl's head swiveled around and her face split into a grin. Nao rocked back to her feet and approached with her hands folded tentatively behind her.

"Late again, Shi-chan? That simply won't do!"

Shizuko took half a step back.

Perhaps noting this, Nao stopped and her smile lessened.

The second year could only smile guiltily back at her.

"You know, the garden's empty again today. Want to talk about it?"

Unsurprisingly, no words were needed for the older girl to grasp what was bothering Shizuko. Nodding appreciatively to the offer, she fell into step behind Nao who led them toward the school's center.

Yotsuya Junior High School had a pretty simple design. It was composed of two squares, one inside of the other with corridors on the east and west sides connecting the two. The outer square with its three floors held all of the school's classrooms. The inner square, where they were right now, held all of the clubrooms, the faculty and student council offices, and, of course, the principal's office.

The garden was located inside the inner square. With maybe twenty feet from east to west and fewer than ten from north to south, it was a small thing, really. Filling the small space were a couple of benches, a handful of trees and a few flowerbeds.

The sakura trees made the garden a popular place at the start of each year, especially among the first years. But once out of bloom, the better part of that attraction was gone. A when the lack of space and the complete absence of social cameras were considered, it wasn't difficult to imagine that most students would choose to spend their break elsewhere.

"Ah, I see… One of those mornings, huh?"

Nao had taken her place on the nearest bench and Shizuko hers, a measured distance between them. The third year had listened patiently while Shizuko explained her reason for being so late.

"You know," Nao started as the two opened their lunches, "I know it doesn't help anything but… I miss her, too. There are still some days where I think, for whatever reason, that when the elevator opens on your floor that Mari will be there with you."

Shizuko watched as, chin in palm, the corners of Nao's mouth lifted into a sad smile.

But as quickly as it had come, the smile was gone and Nao straightened. "But enough of all of this sad talk for now. We'll spoil our lunch." Without waiting for a response, the older girl clapped her hands together and Shizuko followed.

"By the way," Nao started in between bites, "Your class was pretty animated this morning. I know you weren't here but do you have any idea why?"

She looked genuinely curious as she fixed her eyes on the second year.

Shizuko had to think a moment to turn up a likely answer. "We were heard a little while back that we were getting a new transfer student. That might be it, I guess?"

Satisfied with that answer, Nao nodded. And Shizuko, thinking that the end of the discussion, turned back to her lunch.

"If it's a cute boy, be sure to introduce me, 'kay?"

Shizuko must have looked pretty startled by the sudden request because Nao burst into giggles right at that moment.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Promise!"

The apology wasn't very believable to begin with, but the 'Maybe' she tacked on afterward helped none. She knew it was just Nao's way of lifting the mood, but Shizuko was becoming eager for another change of topic.

Then suddenly, in unison, both girls paused. Through the neurolinkers around their necks they had both heard the automated bell tone that signaled the end of the break.

Nao looked dejectedly at her half-finished bento before beginning to pack it away. When done, she turned to Shizuko as the younger girl readied herself to leave. "Are you going to visit the clubroom after school today?"

She sounded hopeful, and Shizuko smiled guiltily back. "Oh, n-no. Not today. My mom said she'd pick me up today, so I can't."

At this, Nao pouted but didn't push the topic further.

The club Nao referred to was the school's shogi club, of which she was the captain. Although not a part of the club herself, Shizuko was known to lie up against the far wall and spectate pretty often.

"Well, I won't keep you, then." Nao rocked to her feet and gestured back toward the building. "Can't have you being late for your afternoon classes, too, now can we?"

Standing, Shizuko answered, "No, I guess not."

.

* * *

.

The afternoon was a quiet one.

Shizuko had parted from Nao upon reaching the stairs. While her own classes were on the second floor, Nao's were on the first. And when the third year was out of sight, Shizuko had made a beeline for her classroom and slipped wordlessly into her seat, centre column one row from the back.

After the events of this morning, she was grateful for it.

The bell tone sounded again in the girl's head to end the day. The teacher, only just now ending his lesson, retired to his desk and the room filled with the sound of chairs scraping on tile. As her classmates packed their things and piled out of the room, Shizuko typed absently on the holo keyboard in front of her.

The room emptied quickly. Wordlessly, Shizuko closed her applications and was just about to reach for her bag when she felt a chill. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see nothing, and jumped up from her chair out of fright.

She evidently startled the boy behind her, too, because his hand, outstretched to tap her shoulder, snapped back and he straightened up in his seat right quick.

"… Uhm, hi?"

He was quick to recover. His face set into a nervous grin, the boy was the first to speak.

"S-sorry…"

Somehow, her apology appeared to relieve some of his nervousness.

"No, no, it's fine. You scared me for a second there, though. I thought I'd done something wrong."

The boy leaned forward onto his desk and pushed back a messy head of blue-black hair. It looked to be in need of a trim as it fell back into place just above his eyes. Perhaps it was just her, but he had an awkward look about him not entirely accounted for by the jump scare he'd received a moment ago, and the freckles dotting his cheeks lent well to the effect.

As a second silence fell between them, the boy became visibly panicked. Again, he extended his hand toward her, this time for a handshake.

"I'm Hideaki Yuuji. Erm, I just transferred in today. I didn't see you this morning so I just thought I'd introduce myself. Sorry if I, you know, scared you. I didn't mean to."

"… Fujimoto Shizuko." Ignoring his hand, Shizuko gave her own name in exchange.

Noting this, Hideaki withdrew his hand and chuckled quietly to himself, embarrassed. He started to stammer out something else but, feeling a growing urge to leave, Shizuko cut him off.

"Ah, S-sorry, Hideaki, but I need to go." Scooping her bag up off the floor, Shizuko turned and left before he could get another word out.

.

* * *

.

" _So you're okay with tomorrow afternoon, then?"_

Shizuko, giving up on her assignments for the moment, closed the holo keyboard in front of her and leaned back into her chair and answered.

" _Yeah. Tomorrow is fine."_

" _You sure? There's going to be a lot of people…"_

Shizuko smiled faintly at Nao's audible concern as she confirmed again that the younger girl was sure. Nao, now on her way home from club activities, had called less than five minutes ago. And before Shizuko had even managed to utter a quick hello, Nao had popped into her head asking about shopping.

" _Yeah. I'm… I'll be fine."_ Shizuko assured Nao once more. She had suggested Shibuya as their destination. Shizuko agreed, but not entirely for the same reasons Nao was likely thinking of.

Shibuya was part of the Green Legion's territory. There were some Burst Linkers in that area that she knew of who might be willing to accept a duel. If she was careful, she could come home tomorrow with small pile of points, not that she knew what she'd do with them.

If she wanted to level up, she could do that right now. The option had become available several months earlier. Selecting it would bring her avatar up to level four, give her a bonus of her choosing, and grant her access the Unlimited Neutral Field. Shizuko had yet to do so.

What would be the point?

"… _an? Shi-chan?"_

" _Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about something."_ Her train of thought interrupted, Shizuko stammered an apology.

Nao leapt on the comment. _"Oh? What about?"_

"N-nothing, really. _Is Uehara coming, too?"_

" _You know Yuzu would get mad if she heard you call her that, right?"_

Shizuko smiled sheepishly, though she knew Nao couldn't see it.

" _But, no, she's not. I already asked. Her mom said no."_ Somehow that didn't come as much of a surprise to Shizuko. _"But back to business!"_ Judging by her tone, Nao knew, but wasn't willing to say more on the topic.

Within twenty minutes, Nao had laid out a full battle plan for tomorrow. And only after ingraining it in Shizuko's head and confirming for the fourth time that, yes, she was still okay with it, did she let the call drop.

And with her voice gone from Shizuko's head, the younger girl glanced about her virtual desktop. It was still early so she debated on whether or not to resume her homework. Ultimately, she gave in, deciding it best to get it over with, though she shifted from her desk to her bed first.

There was a knock on her door just as she was coming up to the last question and she looked away. Sensing the movement, her neurolinker saved and minimized the file.

Her mother poked her head inside and smiled. With the offer of a movie, she coaxed the girl out of her room.

The panel monitor on the wall was already set up when she came out dressed in her pajamas.

"Nao wanted me to go shopping with her tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Shizuko watched her mother, also dressed for bed, as she fiddled with the lights. She looked surprised.

"I'm okay with it as long as you're comfortable. Do you need a ride?"

Shizuko shook her head as her mother came to sit beside her on the couch. The monitor on the wall provided enough light in the now dark apartment for it to be seen and she could see her mother nod in response.

Pulling her legs up, Shizuko nestled against her mother's side. Immediately, she could feel the cold needles in her skin. Her mother wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and slowly, her anxiety fled. She felt warm.

And for the first time today, she felt safe.


	3. This is my Boomstick

**A/N: Apologies for the late update. I'd been pretty bogged down with studying for exams and work and the like so I've been a bit strapped for time. But that aside, please read and (hopefully) enjoy.  
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 **.**

* * *

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Try as she might, Nao couldn't keep herself from laughing. And in the otherwise quiet store her barely stifled giggle carried.

"Sorry, sorry. It – it's just…"

She struggled in between fits to get the words out and explain to a less-than-pleased looking Shizuko what she was finding so funny. Slowly she calmed back down, although she still wore a silly looking grin on her face as she went to clear her throat.

"Sorry. He just… He sounds like such a dork!"

"You're the one who asked…" Shizuko muttered back, scarcely able to see how her answering a couple curious questions on her class's new transfer student could put the ninth grader in stitches. But thinking better of her grouchy reply she added, "So you don't want me to introduce you, then?"

Nao shook her head in the negative even as she began to flit through the clothes hanging from a nearby rack. "Nope. No. I was kidding anyway, so it's fine." She said nothing else so Shizuko assumed that was the end of that conversation. And while the younger girl wasn't half as enthusiastic about clothes shopping as her friend, she at least made a show of looking until she heard her name called.

Looking back up, Shizuko spied Nao giving her a weird look. She didn't need to ask what it was for since Nao beat her to it.

"How much did your mom give you for today?"

"Not that much. Why…?"

"Because the sales racks are over here." Without turning her head to look at them Nao pointed over her shoulder at the space above the displays closest to her. Shizuko must still have looked lost because Nao asked her another question. "You're not connected to the net again, aren't you?"

It clicked then what she meant. "O-oh. No. I'm not."

Normally, if she connected her neurolinker to the global net that empty space Nao had pointed to would have been occupied by a holo image declaring some kind of sale. Such images likely would be covering the better part of the store. And if she walked outside she'd have been bombarded with advertisements, electronic fliers and information tags. Keeping her visual display clear of all the extra clutter seemed a fitting excuse to Shizuko to stay disconnected if she could, although that wasn't her real reasoning.

"Well," Nao cut in, "if you want to hold onto some of your money, you should probably be looking over here."

With a mildly embarrassed smile, Shizuko agreed and started on the side of the rack opposite Nao.

"You were fiddling with the connection earlier, weren't you? Why don't you just leave it on?"

Indeed, Shizuko had been. In the hour they'd been out she'd probably connected (and disconnected) about ten times already, each time only for a handful of seconds. That was more than long enough to check the matching list and maybe have a duel if she liked what she saw.

"Oh, that? N-no. Just a nervous habit." Her denial scored another weird look from her friend from around the rack and a shrug, but no further inquiry.

"And this Friday? Am I picking you up as usual?"

"If it's not any trouble," Shizuko answered.

Nao's muffled giggling came back in response. "Never any trouble. You're usually finishing up as I get there anyway. And you can brag about how you survived public transit this time, too!"

Shizuko grimaced at the thought of their ride here. "Never again. Please…" There were good ways and bad ways to start the day. A bus ride, to her, counted as very bad. She'd sat stiff and silent in her seat, wanting off the whole way and praying for the seats adjacent to her to remain empty. She could feel the chill, like dozens of little pinpricks in her skin, creeping back just remembering it.

But, ever the voice of encouragement, Nao chimed in. "But you made it."

Shizuko made her disagreement known with a low groan.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry for suggesting it, really. By the way, do you mind if I ask you something? Doctor… Maebara, yeah? She doesn't do family stuff, does she? Just one on one?"

Shizuko had to stop and think about that for a moment. "I… don't actually know." She'd been attending biweekly individual sessions with the counselor for a little less than two years now. It was easier to talk that way so she'd never asked about group sessions. She wondered briefly about what prompted the question.

"Is it about Uehara?"

Nao leaned over to peer around the rack again. Her quiet smile confirmed Shizuko's suspicion. "Don't tell her I asked you about it, okay?"

Shizuko nodded slowly. "I won't. But you can ask about that on Friday, can't you?"

"I think I might do just that. Thanks." Her smile now a bit brighter, Nao retreated back behind the rack.

The next several seconds passed without another words between them. And while Shizuko was no longer feeling quite up to it, she opted for one last duel today. A moment's fiddling with one window in her visual display saw her connected to the global net again and she whispered the command.

"Burst link."

As if carried by a swift gale of wind, the colour blue washed over everything. And with it time slowed to a weary crawl. The air felt thicker now, heavy even. And the pixilated reconstruction of the store suddenly looked very shiny. She had no other word for it. Somehow it had always reminded Shizuko of the consistency of honey. And in the middle of that blue honey space, Shizuko, now wearing the slightly oversized plush lion costume of her school avatar, stared at her own blue back.

She never had quite gotten used to this part, looking at herself, that is. But it was always the same: shoulders hunched, arms held in close, chin length hair failing to hide her hangdog expression as she tried to make herself smaller.

Circling around the clothes rack, Shizuko found Nao's frozen look to be in sharp contrast with her body loose and relaxed, eyes and smile both bright as she reached in to pull something out. Already she had a couple others draped over one arm. Nao loved shogi for certain, but if there was one thing Nao loved more than that, Shizuko knew it to be clothes. And despite seeing her own dreary face moments before, it brought the younger girl a modicum of joy to see her friend looking so enthused.

She turned her attention to the burning _B_ icon then. Shizuko tapped it with one plush paw and the duel menu, framed with heavy, riveted iron and suspended by chains, dropped down in front of her. For a brief moment it was empty. It refreshed itself soon enough and one by one names filled the space. In the first space was the name of Shizuko's own avatar written in boldfaced English letters.

 **Moss Caliber**

Below that was a long list of other names, many of which Shizuko recognized and a few she didn't. There was Thistle Blanket, Slate Bur, Tin Match, Zaffre Pike, Carmine Witch, Clover Bulwark, Denim Pugilist, Dandelion Metronome, and a multitude of others, all of varying levels. It had taken no small amount of effort to polish her English language skills enough to be able to read and interpret all of those names properly, effort she then thought well worth it and that she now wasn't so very sure of. Many of those listed she'd seen on the list earlier, though she was in no more of a hurry to duel them now than she had been before. But along with those few she saw two names that hadn't been there earlier.

 **Mint Beetle**

 **Blush Mushroom**

They were two names she knew well. Mint was a long time member of the Green Legion and had been Shizuko's first opponent when she first received the game a little over a year ago. His defense was nothing to scoff at but his upbeat and easy going attitude during their duels since was probably the bulk of the reason she counted him a friend.

Blush was another old friend of sorts. She knew Mint personally, or at least that was the impression Shizuko had gotten, and so perhaps its came as no surprise that they'd dueled one another more than just a few times. And still Shizuko still had to remind herself that, even as cute as her name sounded, the latter half was not in reference to the small fruiting body but to the mushroom-shaped clouds caused by large explosions.

Shizuko skipped over both of them. If possible, she wanted to avoid dueling with either of them today.

More names appeared as she scrolled up and down through the list. Eventually she settled on one.

 **Steel Sanction**

From the name she couldn't tell for sure if he was a blue or metal avatar but she figured he was probably a blue. From what she knew of metal avatars, the colour was always that of an element like gold, silver, or tin. They matched her at level three which left her to wonder if it was arrogance that led her to select their name. He was only level three. He had to be new, weak and inexperienced unlike her.

Even as she told herself that she needed to stop thinking like that, the thunder was already rolling in her ears.

The blue world and everything in it was eroded away and a new hyper-realistic metallic one was built up in its place. It was poorly lit, with wires running the length of the walls, slowly spinning cogs filling what were probably meant to be windows and Shizuko could hear the low, continual whir of conveyor belts working. All in all, the atmosphere it gave off was about as depressing as the she imagined the would-be workers would have been.

"Factory stage." She muttered to herself. "Fun…"

Her health and special gauges, along with her opponent's, dropped down in the top of her vision, with the timer between them. The normally useless minimap was squished into the bottom left, its big white arrow pointing northeast of her.

 _ **FIGHT!**_

The burning iron letters made their brief appearance and the timer started ticking down. Shizuko took one step forward, heard the loud _clang_ that caused, and stopped. While perfectly human-shaped from the waist up, Shizuko's avatar, in all of its bright green armoured splendor, was decidedly bottom-heavy. A wider set waist made room for flat bottomed legs, easily twice as thick as her real body's, which made up the majority of her avatar's weight. The rest she attributed to the thick gauntlets on either hand because it certainly wasn't coming from her disproportionately slim abdomen.

She didn't hear anything new over the din of the machinery (though she wasn't sure whether or not that was favourable for her), and the minimap arrow hadn't shifted at all. Assuming she was safe, she lifted her face, now an empty mask with two blue ovular eyes, to the nearest exit.

"Equip: Canopy Shot."

The large firearm materialized in her open hands as she ambled rather loudly forward. Its design was bizarre for certain. Caught somewhere between an assault rifle and an over-sized water-gun, she was never quite sure whether or not she should laugh at it. But appearances aside, as her starting Enhanced Armament the gun was still her trusted friend. The charges for its basic shots filled themselves in below her special gauge until they counted seven. She still didn't regret spending her last _Level-Up_ bonus on increasing that limit.

It took nearly a full three minutes of slow running for Shizuko to find her opponent. She found herself in a large open room, void of any of the earlier machinery. She heard the shrill screech of tortured metal and saw the other avatar's health bar grind down before she saw him hurl a piece of wall at her. Shizuko ducked and rolled clear and came up with him locked in her sights and her finger on the trigger.

She probably should have just shot him right then. It would have saved her a world of trouble. But he did the strangest thing – strange enough to stay her hand anyway.

He whistled, low and long, as if impressed by something, and tried to strike up a conversation.

"You run pretty slow but you've got some good reflexes, huh?"

There was a distinctly boyish inflection to his words, heard even through the metallic effects layered onto his voice. She guessed him to be her age, maybe younger.

"Good enough."

Her curt reply appeared to amuse him because she heard something sounding like a stifled chuckle from him.

His was a very human looking avatar, lacking much of the sheer bulk Shizuko saw on most blue avatars. He was slim, not grossly so as she was, and streamlined, pale blue armour, like ice, covered the whole of his body. Lines carved expertly out of that armour gave the appearance that he was wearing a simple suit. He would have been the very definition of _strapping young lad_ if not for the fact that the same lines carved out canted yellow eyes and a toothy grin, both equally suspect.

"It's funny, you know?" Steel raised a hand and pointed one knife-like finger at her. "I've never seen a green avatar with a gun before. You buy it off someone?"

Shizuko shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? You doing some shopping here yourself?"

"Hmm, not really, no. I'm more of a tag-along today, really. But you know, you've put me in a bit of an awkward position here." Slowly, he started to edge his way toward the exit. The barrel of her gun followed. "I was banking on scoring that hit just now, yeah? But since you dodged it that means I kinda wasted my health there. So I hope you understand if I, uh, if I, you know… run?"

 _Bang!_

Shizuko pulled the trigger and he leapt for the exit on his left. What little was left of the wall crumpled like tin foil with the bullet's impact. She heard the boy squeak and then scraping metal as he vaulted over the railing of the narrow walkway beyond the door. She followed after just in time to see the conveyor belt below carry him away.

She checked his health; he'd not even lost a full ten percent yet. He'd come scurrying back soon enough if he wanted a win. All the same, Shizuko didn't feel she had the patience left to wait him out. She wanted to finish this quick. So it was with a loud crash that she dropped down onto the belt after him.

.

* * *

.

From on high the gallery roared its approval.

Sparks flew, glittering as the boy's claws glanced off Shizuko's gauntlet. Canopy Shot safely secured on her back, she had both hands free: one to block, one to hook him in that creepy grin of his.

He'd taken her on a chase through the factory before leading her high up into this clockwork tower with its rotating platforms. The gallery's chiding remarks had him rankled by then and, ignoring her, he started shouting back. One solid blow from behind fixed that. He'd gone skidding across the floor and nearly had his feet chewed up in the gear teeth before he'd recovered and charged her.

They clashed once, twice, nearly half a dozen times, and each time he came out worse for wear. It was looking like this would be over quick even if she didn't use her rifle.

" 'Atta girl, Moss! Give that Leonid interloper what for! " A familiar bell-like voice shouted from above. Shizuko chanced a quick glance and picked out the rosy pink avatar without any trouble. Whooping and hollering right along with the rest of the gallery, the small girl-shaped avatar was impossible to mistake. "Aaagh! Turn around, dummy!"

Following Blush's advice, Shizuko turned her head back just in time for it to snap the other way. Her jaw crunched painfully and she watched the little green bar above her name drop.

Steel did a little spin in place, celebrating his good kick.

Shizuko grabbed his leg as it passed and, with a little spin of her own, hurled the boy by his ankle. He crashed into the rotor arm of the center platform and fell to the floor in a heap of cold metal. She stepped heavily onto the same platform, taking care not to get caught in the teeth, and pulled the rifle comfortably into her hands.

The gallery grew louder, Blush at the forefront shouting her head off for Shizuko to 'nail him good'. She didn't need to be told twice. She lined up the shot and pulled the trigger and yet –

The tower lit up in a show of light, colouring the monstrously-sized gears in shades of green. The rotor arm that kept the gears all continually spinning groaned and bent under the impact. He rolled clear and came to his feet.

She'd missed.

The platform lurched. Sputtering and groaning, the damaged labor arm labored on and managed a stuttered pace. Thanking the bottom-heavy design of her Moss Caliber, Shizuko managed to keep her feet. He nearly fell over the edge, all balance lost.

Steel was only just beyond her range but the blast of air from a second well-placed shot pushed him over before he could recover.

She heard a dull crash from far below and his health plummeted below twenty. For Shizuko, who still sat at a safe seventy, the duel was as good as done. The gallery agreed, and so they fell silent as she stepped up the edge and jumped down after him.

She felt the landing like a shock wave through her legs up to her spine, and her health reflected it.

He was still splayed across the ground. Most of him was, anyway. He was missing his left foot, but the leg itself looked like it might fall off any second. The rest of him looked about as good. So badly broken from head to toe that she was amazed he had any health left at all, let alone as much as he did. That was a blue colour for you.

"Get up."

Pieces of his mask cracked and fell away as his head rolled around to look at her.

"You… you're joking, right?"

She wasn't and he clued in quick.

Some members of the gallery had dropped down after them to watch but they lacked their earlier cheer. A few were exchanging hushed comments.

"That's Mint's friend, yeah? Moss?"

"What's up with her? It's already a done deal."

"The guy can hardly even stand…"

"This isn't fun anymore…"

Shizuko shut them out. She prodded Steel with the barrel of the rifle to urge him back to his feet. She planned to just shoot him if he kept laying there but after a few seconds he started to pick himself up. More pieces of his armour broke off as he tried to balance on one foot and a stump.

"I just want you to know," Steel said, pointing a sharp finger at her, "that you're really, _really_ mean…"

With a calm shrug of her shoulders Shizuko took a few measured steps back.

He heaved an exasperated sigh, like he couldn't be bothered with this anymore. But with nowhere left to run and the timer still ticking he didn't have that many options left open.

The gallery chose that moment to go quiet.

He moved awkwardly on his stump of a leg but as he reared back his hand, she readied her shot. He sighed again and with a shake of his head let the words tumble out.

"Gunmetal Guillotine."

The name lost its edge when dropped so listlessly but she still saw the brief glint of cold light on his hand as his special gauge dropped to half. He all but fell over forward with the effort of swinging his arm.

Shizuko had four more charges to waste.

She pulled the trigger. The green light filled her vision same as the screech of metal on metal did her ears and was gone just as quick. There was just Steel in front of her, attack repelled and stumbling backward. Shizuko stepped forward and fired again.

The green light reappeared immediately behind him, visible through the now fist-sized hole in his stomach.

 **WINNER!**

Complete with its own little fanfare and slot-machine sound effect as his points were added to her pool, the flaming English letters confirmed her victory.

"Oiii! Moss!"

Hearing her name, Shizuko looked up. Blush hopped down lightly, one platform to the next, leaving the still muttering gallery behind. Shizuko turned to face her as the girl landed a few feet away. Since they weren't members of the same legion this was as close as Blush could get right now.

"I don't know what your deal is today but, wherever you are, you'd better stay put. You're dueling with me next so don't you dare disconnect!"

Shizuko had been silently relieved to not hear her take part in the gallery's murmuring earlier but she could muster no response to the sudden urgency in her voice.

The acceleration cancelled out then. With the duel finished the dreary colours and factory din crumbled away, replaced with the quiet chatter of the outlet store.

Slowly at first, and then with an abrupt snap she came back into her head. She had gotten used to the sensation by now, but it was always a little disorienting on the return trip. It was so easy to forget what you'd been doing before a duel.

A translucent grey window popped up in front of her, the burning English B icon tucked away in the top corner. Shizuko closed the Level Up! prompt without a second thought and then hurried to terminate her connection.

"Sorry, Blush…"

The small red avatar would no doubt be mad at her. Mint probably would be as well once he heard. So be it. She didn't like it but she could live with it.

"Hmm? You say something?"

Nao appeared without warning and gave the eighth grader a good fright.

"Ah! N-no, nothing… Nothing at all! _Please_ don't do that again!" Shizuko pleaded with Nao.

The third year bit back a giggle and held her hands up, palms out in surrender. "My bad, sorry. I wasn't trying to scare you. You were spaced out with this really serious look on your face. I didn't worry you with what I asked a minute ago, did I?"

Shizuko had to stop and try to remember what she meant. Nao had asked something about sessions for Uehara. She got that far and shook her head in the negative. "No. I was… I don't know. I was thinking about something. I don't remember what now." She lied and, in a hurry to change the subject away from her looked down at the clothes on Nao's arm. "Uh, looks like you've found something?"

The ninth grader flashed her a look of equal parts suspicion and concern but quickly put on a quiet smile and proceeded to hold up the articles for show. Shizuko nodded along and half-listened but her thoughts were elsewhere.

In particular they focused on the idle comment made by one spectator in her last match.

" _This isn't fun anymore…"_

Thinking on it now she couldn't have agreed more. It hadn't been fun for a long time. What good was a game if it wasn't fun?

There wasn't any point to it anymore. And if it was only going to stay like this, she would rather forget it all.


End file.
